Car-fender.



T. EUSTACE.

CAR FENDER.

I APPLICATION HLED FEB-7,1912- 1, 182,079. Patented May 9,1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1- Tk EUSTACE.

CAR FENDER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 7, 1912.

1,182,079. Patented May 9,1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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THOMAS EU$TACE, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK.

GAR-FENDER.

Specification'of Letters Patent.

Patented May 9, 1916.

Application filed February 7, 1912. Serial No. 676,101.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THoMAs EUSTACE, ,of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Fenders; and. I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and to thereference-numerals marked thereon. f

My present invention relates to car fen ders and it has for one of its objectsto, so

mount the fender on the car body that it may be folded to a position entirely out of the way where it will be beyond injury, particularly when two cars are run together.

Another object of the invention is to provide means whereby the fender is normally heldin an elevated position above the track but is retained in a lowered position against the track when it is once thrust downward, as by the impact ofa person or object that it strikes so that, until released,*it will prevent theperson or object from being rolled beneath the fender.

Other objects of the invention are directed toward improvement in the construe.

a car to which isfitted a fender mechanism,

all constructed in accordance with and illustrating one embodiment of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectiontaken substantially on the line2-2 of F g. 1; Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken substantially on the line 38 of Fig. 2; Figdiiis a front eleva tion; Fig. 5is a detail. of a group of parts appearing in Fig. 3, but shown in different relative positions, and Fig; 6 is a detail section, enlarged, [taken substantially on. the line 66 of Fig. 1, and Figs. 7 and 8 illustrate a modified construction oflo'cking device for holding'the fender in one position,

the former being a' sectional assembled view, and the latter a detail perspective of the latch.

Similar reference numerals throughout the several figures indicate the same parts.

The car body, illustrated in connection with the present embodiment of the invention, is of the familiar construction, only a fragment of the platform portion being shown and comprising longitudinal knee beams l, the bumper ,2 at the front ends thereof, platform flooring 8 and the car front 4. Depending from beneath the platform at either side thereof and in rear of the bumper are a pair of brackets 5,'ea'ch preferably secured to one of the knee beams. These brackets are provided with double walls 6 between which are pivoted at 7 a pair of levers 8 each having a forwardly eX- tending arm' 9.

The forward ends of the arms 9, in the .present instance, are reduced or suitably formed at 10 to fit within respective rearwardly opening ends of the main fender frame 11, which frame I prefer to form of tubing bent into the form of a yoke, 'as usual. The back frame 12 has theusual relative position of operation with respect to the fender frame 11 and is pivoted therei to by means of pins 13, in the present in stance cotter pins being employed, which, however, are also passed through the" reduced ends 10 of the arms 9 and I am, therefore,'enabled to utilize them as ameans for locking the connections between the fender frame 10 and its supporting arms so that by simply removing these pins both frames may be detached from their support and from each other as. well for .repair or netting or a strap iron grille, such as shown at 14, may be used to cover both frames.

Were thefender frame 11 so mounted as to foldup against the back frame 12 with the latter in the position shown in Fig. 1,

as has heretofore often been the case in fenother purposes. Either the familiar rope" der construction, it will be readily seen that should the bumper of another car be run against the bumper 2, both-the fender frame and back frame, or the coverings thereof,

would] lie'between the cars and become bentand broken or otherwise seriously mutilated with the impact. In the practice of my present lnventlon, however,I so arrange the pivotal center 7- that the fender frame 11 .may be folded to the elevated dotted line position shown in Fig. 1 in which it lies well above the bumper 2 and with all parts in rear of the contacting face of the latter.

The back frame 12 is, of course, carried with it and because of the pivotal connection assumes a relatively parallel position, also above the bumper and between the fender and the car front 4, so that both frames are clear of the bumper and cannot be damaged by another car or object coming against the bumper.

I prefer to arrange a guide or traveler 15 above the bumper upon which a traveler link 161, connected to the back frame 12, runs, so that the upper portion of the latter is supported and held from falling forwardly in both of its positions and the fender frame 11 may, therefore, be connected to the back frame 12 by the usual chains or straps 162 in both positions.

When in normal position, the fender frame 11 is carried at a slight elevation above the tracks, substantially as shown in full lines in the figures and this position is maintained in the present instance by the pressure of springs 16 which act against the rearwardly extending arms 17 of the le vers 8. These springs are 'mounted upon bolts 18 guided in the brackets 5 and between the heads of which and the brackets they are interposed while the arms 17 loosely engage beneath the heads of the bolts. Thus, when 7 sufficient downward pressure is applied to the fender frame, the springs will be compressed and the fender frame allowed to move down against the track, or very close to it, though with the construction so far described it would riseagain when the pressure isir'eleased. I, therefore, provide means for automatically retaining the springs compressed or flexed, so that,

7 once down, the fender frame will staythere' for the purposes heretofore pointed out. This means, in the present instance, comprises an automatic latch 19, a gravity latch,

"weighted at 20, being shown in this embodiment, that is pivoted at a suitablepoint 21 on the underside of the platform, and has a hooked portion 22 that is normally held by the weight 20 in a position against 7 a bar 23 having eyes at its opposite ends through whichthe bolts 18 'are'passed and which rest between the'heads of the latter and the springs 16, so that as the springs latch 34 and cooperating parts at each side of the car for each supporting lever 8and are compressed by the arms 17 the bar rises. As the bar 23 does so, the hooked portion 22 of the latch engages beneath it, as shown in Fig. 5, and, therefore, when the pressure on the fender frame 11 is released, the latter having been thrust down to the dotted line a position of Fig. 3, the springs are prevented from raising the fender and the latter travels close to the rail until the latch 19 is released. I 7

As a releasing means, I provide the latch 19 with an arm 24 that extends upwardly through a suitable opening 25in the" floor 3 so that it is, accessible from above theplatobject, and when it is carelessly dropped from its folded position.

Fig. 7 illustrates in a view corresponding to Fig. 5 a slightly modified construction of the spring and latch arrangements.

This construction is adapted for use on cars in which the body is hung lower than usual and there is not enough room between the track and knee beams to adequately accommodate the mechanism in the form above described. In this construction the rear arm 17 of the supporting lever 8 may be omitted and the bolt 18 arranged to bear against a vertically arranged or elbowshaped portion 31 of said lever so that the thrust against the spring 16 is in a horizontal instead of a vertical direction. The said bolt is guided in an aperture 32 at the rear I of the bracket and has a portion projecting beyond the latter and'fitted with a washer or otherwise constructed to provide a shoulder 33. On the rear side of each bracket is a sliding latch 34, shown in detail III'FIQ'."

8, and having a bifurcated lower end 35 by means of which it is guided on the projecting portion of the bolt 18. On the rear face of the latch is an outstandingiportion'36 which rests upon the top of the washer or shoulder 33 with the latteribearing against 1 the lower bifurcated portion of the latch I when the fender is in raised position and the spring extended, but when the fender is lowered and the spring compressed, ca'using the end of the bolt to project from the bracket, the portion 36 of the latch drops down between the shoulder and the bracket and prevents the former from returning to a position against the latter so that the- "spring is held compressed.

It will be understood that there is such a the means I employ in the present instance for releasing both. latches simultaneously, comprises a bar 37 connected at its respective ends to each latch, as by means of eyes 38 on the latter, and which is guided in suitable straps 39 for vertical movement.

the bar 37 so'that by pressingdownwardly upon the portion 41 the bar 37' will be fender frame andalso constituting the sole.

means for securing the latter on the supporting arm. I

2. The combination with a fender frame, of a supporting arm havinga telescoping connection therewith, a back frame and a detachable member pivotally and directly connecting the back frame and fender frame and extending through the telescoping portions of the latter and its supporting arm to lock said last mentioned parts together.

3. The combination with a car body, a bracket on the under side thereof provided. with a guide, a lever pivoted to the bracket and a fender frame supported on a forwardly projecting arm of the lever, of a bolt adapted to reciprocate in the guide, a spring surrounding the bolt and normally acting to project the latter against the lever and holdthe fender frame above thetrack, a head on the bolt adapted to move into spaced relationship with the bracket when the fender frame is forced downwardly against the track and the spring is compressed and a gravity latch arranged to automatically drop between the bolt headv and the bracket and to thereby hold the spring compressed.

l. The combination with a car body, a. pair of levers pivoted thereto and a fender frame supported on forwardly projecting arms of the levers, of a spring arranged to act upon each lever, to normally hold the fender frame above the track, a member movable with both springs when the latter are flexed, and an automatic latch cooperating with said member to relieve the levers from the action of the springs when the fender frame is forced to a position against the tracks.

5. The combination with a car body, a lever pivoted thereto and a fender frame supported on a forwardly projecting arm of the lever, of a spring arranged to act upon the lever to normally hold the fender frame above the track, an automatic latch for retaining the fender frame in position against the action of the spring when the fender frame is forced downwardly against the track and means accessible fromthe platform of the car for releasing the latch.

6. The combination with a car platform, of a fender frame movably mounted thereon and adapted to be depressed by a weight applied thereto, a spring acting to normally hold the fender frame elevated above the track, an automatic latch for holding the fender frame lowered against the tension of the spring when forced downwardly against the track and a releasing device for the latch accessible from above the platform.

7. The combination with a car body, of a rigid integral fender supporting arm p1voted at its upper portion beneath the car body and extending thence downwardly and forwardly to constitute an elbow and a hori- .zontally disposed compression spring bear- .ing at one end against the downwardly extending portion of the elbow and in rear thereof and bearing at the other end against a fixed part on the body, said spring being adapted to normally hold the fender arm elevated. THOMAS EUSTAGE.

Witnesses:

RUssnLL B. GRIFFITH, FLORENCE E. FRANK.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patentl,

Wilmington, .D. 0. 

